Two Franks and a Beach Bench

I am sitting on a bench that honors two men named Frank. “Frank Veale and Frank Bergin, two friends who shared many happy times together with their families in Delray Beach.” I am positioned on the bench so the Atlantic is on my left and Ocean Blvd is on my right. For an anti-cold weather person who was landlocked in Missouri during my formative years and two decades beyond that in Oklahoma, I have done my time in the middle of the country with its associated winter weather. I am not a wimpy winter-weather ranter. I rant from experience as a fair and foul weather walker.

I am on a two-month ‘pre-release’ arrangement from my home in Washington, D.C. and am a bit smug in the knowledge that the Nation’s Capital is at this very moment getting hammered by the snowstorm of the century. I am confused. I thought that storm already happened in December. I was there for it. The falling powder was beautiful and the pre-storm zaniness with my neighbors on Capitol Hill was a hoot. But the aftermath… climbing over dirty piles to reach the sidewalk, wading through slurpy slush up to (and sometimes over) the summit of my boots, the treachery of black ice, the sodden aftermath.

What is the aftermath of a 72-degree sunny day in Delray? A healthy glow to your skin, the natural anti-depressant of another brilliant day, the astonishing azure and green in the Atlantic, cottony clouds that highlight a shamelessly blue sky, the predictable push/pull of the tides, and the rustle of palm fronds in the breeze to lull you to sleep.

There are no cross-country skiers, snow angels or snowball fights here. Just kite-surfers, roller-bladers and vitamin D seekers. I’ll take the latter, thank you very much.

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Judy Leaver is a professional writer with clients ranging from private sector to nonprofit local and national organizations to a division of the Library of Congress. Her blog, Literary Mileage, and more information about her writing can be found at www.jleaver.com.

2 Comments

I know exactly where you are in Delray. It is a gorgeous place.
And DC has been getting hammered with snow yet again.

SMILE!

Mary Quattlebaum
on February 14, 2010 at 9:02 pm

I loved reading your post and imagining you sitting on the Frank bench in a tropical setting. Ahh. In DC, the snow has engendered a bit of a carnival atmosphere (nice for pre-Mardi Gras) at our house. We read, eat, sometimes have visitors, and do only basic household chores. The dogs are loving it. There are huge banks of icy snow piled up on tiny sidewalk paths–bleah.